ALEX McLEISH believes the Rangers support have gone to war with their board of directors because they fear the club will end up end losing Ibrox.

And the former Rangers manager – a lifelong fan of the Light Blues – believes they have no option but to stand up to the current regime and demand security over the stadium in return for their season-ticket money.

Rangers may have issued a statement yesterday claiming that Ibrox is “sacrosanct” and would never be handed over as security to anybody, but McLeish knows any bond of trust that existed between the fan base and the board has long been snapped.

Former director Dave King has set up a fund for fans to deposit their season-ticket money into, which will be handed over to the club only if the board puts up Ibrox and Murray Park as security.

Rangers have insisted they will not do so and a desperate game of brinkmanship is under way. Or, to repeat the term McLeish used yesterday, a “war” has started.

McLeish was back at Ibrox for a Tesco Community event yesterday and it was from within the red-brick walls he spoke of his hope the club would give the fans what they want – and that King can have a major part to play in moving Rangers forward.

He said: “I can only take Dave King at face value, what I’ve read in the papers and what he’s saying. We have to trust that, the fans have to trust that. It sounds as though there is a bit of responsibility being handed to the fans and you know they will go to war to save the club.

“They’ll do that because they see this place (Ibrox) being saved. That’s the bottom line. I think every Rangers fan would want that.”

Asked if he felt the board should agree to the demand of security over the assets being handed to the fans in exchange for their season-ticket money, McLeish added: “I would hope so. I know there will be different opinions but it just seems like common sense.

“Yes, I have concerns that Rangers wouldn’t own Ibrox. Maybe people will say ‘Big yin, you don’t know what the finances are all about’ and they might think it’s better it’s not owned, it might keep the costs down or whatever.

“The training ground as well, there was a massive investment in that a few years ago. If you were to lose assets like that, it would scare me. For me, and maybe I’m just talking like a traditionalist here, it would be unthinkable that the club didn’t own Ibrox.”

The former Motherwell, Hibs, Rangers, Birmingham, Aston Villa and Scotland manager is aware that Ally McCoist is trying to strengthen his squad despite the club’s precarious financial position which has seen non-playing staff face redundancies.

Kenny Miller is likely to be his first signing of the summer, as revealed by Record Sport on Monday, and McLeish believes it is McCoist’s duty as manager to build as strong a team as possible, even if it seems unpalatable when people are losing their jobs. He said: “I know Ally will be hurting, seeing people he has worked with for years going out the door.

“You would hope that anybody who does leave will be head-hunted for the same level of work they are doing here. But we know in the real world sometimes that’s difficult.

“Look at my own situation in terms of trying to get a job. It’s been a year now and you see yourself in the middle of the lists, as opposed to two years ago when I was at the top of the lists. I’m not flavour of the month at the moment so I know how difficult it is for people when they leave a job.

“Ally will be hurting because he’s a guy who cares and you know how close he has been to the staff over the years. But he has to focus on his job, otherwise he won’t be here. He’s got to get on with it and hope the powers above him are working towards getting Rangers’ head above water again.

“Kenny Miller is a fit guy, a good professional and he looks after himself. He can definitely still do a job for Rangers. He has played to a good level in the MLS. I know it’s not England but he finished with Vancouver on a pretty high level.”

McLeish insists another priority for Rangers is to rebuild their scouting network, adding: “In my last year, we kind of cut that as well.

“Ewan Chester left and I brought in a guy part-time. You would think an institution like Rangers should have the best scouting around.

“I believe Ally is trying to work towards that and change that. You would think one of the first things they would do is get the scouting side of things sorted.”

McLeish believes Rangers have to hit the ground running when they get back to the top flight – particularly as the club has publicly targeted a top-two finish in 2016 and winning the title the following year.

McLeish has his doubts. He added: “They wouldn’t be out-and-out favourites the way Celtic would be. But if they come back into the Premiership with a bit of momentum there is no reason why they shouldn’t be going for a European place right away.

“It would be a big ask to win the title so quickly but if the players wear the jersey the fans expect that. The board might expect them to be pushing and competing as well as they can against a Celtic team who have been evolving over the last few years, getting all the Champions League cash.

“I know Celtic are losing players too, and they have to do their sums, making sure they stay on a level footing. But they will still have an advantage.”